Neighborhood meth lab destroyed

Scott Larkin was arrested and bathed on the scene.

June 17, 2004

Dougherty County -- A hot and hazardous job for Albany Dougherty Drug agents. They raided a meth lab Thursday morning on Cordele Road and arrested 32-year-old Scott Larkin as he prepared to cook up a batch of the illegal drug.

As fans whir to keep drug agents cool, they work to dismantle a dangerous meth lab. The front seat of a bucket truck the latest meth lab discovery.

Albany-Dougherty Drug Unit Commander Major Bill Berry said "We were able to catch him outside where it is safer for us."

Scott Larkin set up the lab behind his Cordele Road trailer. When he stepped away, drug agents moved in. "He was not in there where he could destroy or mix chemicals or become a barricaded type person," said Berry.

Dismantling the lab was a tough job dressed in hot, heavy hazmat suits. Sgt. Reggie French said, "No telling how hot it is inside that suit. Feels like it is probably about 200 degrees in there."

Drug agents slowly took apart the highly explosive lab. And while Larkin worked making meth, he kept an eye out with surveillance cameras. Berry said "He's got some mounted on top of the trailer. And he's got scanners in there with all the police and fire frequencies listed."

Larkin had to be decontaminated. He was forced to strip while firefighters held up curtains and washed him down with a fire hose. Then, with a clean jump suit, he was off to jail. As drug agents continued to sweat it out for hours as they cleaned out a hazardous lab on a hot summer day.

Agents found 5-thousand dollars worth of methamphetimine ready to be sold on the street. Larkin is in the Dougherty County jail charged with manufacturing and trafficking methamphetamine.